In 2014, Jollibee raised the compensation of Caktiong and company by P20.812 million, or 22.598 percent, to P112.907 million from P92.095 million in 2013.

Until the end of 2015, their compensation is estimated to reach P122.978 million, which would be higher by P10.071 million, or 8.92 percent, than their pays and perks in 2014.

In detailing the compensation of its five highest paid executives, Jollibee said the group’s compensation consisted of P56.093 million in combined salary and P36.002 million in bonus in 2013; P61.006 million in salary and P51.901 million in bonus in 2014. This year, the company said the compensation of Caktiong and four other top executives would consist of P65.886 million in salaries and P57.091 million in bonuses.

Ranged against their salaries—which mean basic pay—the bonuses that Jollibee paid Caktiong and company represent 64.183 percent of salaries in 2013; 85.075 percent in 2014; and 86.651 percent in 2015.

Generosity
Jollibee’s generosity to the members of the company’s management team extends to “all other officers and directors as a group unnamed.” In 2013, the company paid them P339.311 million in total compensation, divided into P232.508 million in salaries and P106.803 million in bonuses. The following year, it increased the group’s pays and perks by P32.201 million, or 9.49 percent, to P371.512 million. By the end of the year, Jollibee will have paid the group P422.202 million, consisting of P265.703 million in salaries and P156.499 million in bonuses.

In an explanatory note, Jollibee said each of the members of its nine-man board gets a per diem of P60,000 per attendance of meetings, which it said are “scheduled quarterly or as may be required by the business.”

Aside from the usual meeting fee, Jollibee said it “has instituted a performance-based incentive for its directors,” which “shall be determined by the compensation committee.”

Buyback
Belle Corp. has allocated P1 billion for its share buyback plan. As of Wednesday, it had bought back 38.674 million of its 10.559 billion issued shares. As a result, the number of the company’s outstanding shares dropped to 10.52 billion, with a market value of P37.243 billion.

Consistent profitability enables Belle to reacquire its own shares in the open market. As of June 30, 2015, it had reduced its retained earnings to P5.438 billion by distributing dividend of P1.901 billion.

In a posting on the website of the Philippine Stock Exchange, Belle said only 7.861 billion of its 10.559 billion issued shares are listed or available for trading.

Who are the sellers in these buyback programs? Sometimes these buybacks are just meant to enable some favored stockholders to dump their shares without triggering a sell-off. Is it fair to the smaller stockholders? Of course, all is fair in love and war, and the stock market.